ARMS MAKERS: The Guns Of Gaul

ARMS MAKERS: The Guns Of Gaul

The gulf war is a test not just of armies but of arms, and the big loser is already clear: France. During the Iran-Iraq war, Baghdad laid out $16 billion for Mirage jets, Exocet missiles and other French-made weapons -- close to a third of the Iraqi arsenal. But when the dust settles from Operation Desert Storm, French arms makers may find they have taken as bad a beating as Saddam's soldiers. While American jets and missiles and British aircraft have dazzled the world, Iraq's French-supplied firepower has been drubbed or simply withdrawn.